


And The Stars

by orphan_account



Series: Love At One Night Stand [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Jewish Jack, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Racism, Mentions of anti-Semitism, Teacher Bitty, Teacher Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 18:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “I just need some quiet.  It’s always there—I’m always so profoundly aware of it, but sometimes I just want…quiet.”“You got it,” Bitty said.  “It’s quiet here.  Just us and the stars.”Jack smiled, and finally relaxed fully into Bitty’s arms.  He moved so Bitty could lie back again, gave over his arm to feel each shooting star, and he closed his eyes.  “Just us and the stars,” he repeated.  “I like that.”





	And The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for mentions of anti-semitism and racism. Please don't read if that or the events that happened in Charlottesville today are triggering for you.
> 
> This is me processing my emotions of having to see Nazis screaming hate speech on like literally all of my social media--and being expected to educate and stay polite and calm about the whole thing to goyim who didn't understand why we "can't just all get along" regarding people who literally see minorities as less than human.
> 
> This fic isn't graphic at all about the hate speech, it's just some Zimbits hurt/comfort because I wanted something soft after the end of a very shite day.
> 
> Disclaimer: the characters of Check Please belong to the wonderful and amazing Ngozi.

In a way, Bitty supposed he was ill equipped to handle something like this—abject comfort over something he didn’t quite understand. I mean, in theory it made sense—and from experience he knew exactly how much the pain of bigotry could hurt. Not a moment went by he couldn’t remember exactly what rejection felt like, and out and proud as he was, and safe and comfortable as he was, he couldn’t pretend like it didn’t ache deep in his chest every time he heard some homophobic slur uttered under someone’s breath.

But he didn’t quite know what it was for Jack to suddenly be bombarded with media and conversation about all this…stuff. Stuff that was, quite frankly, a little too close to home physically for comfort. Like just a few state lines away people were holding torches and screaming slogans which represented a not-so-long-ago genocide, and they were directed at people like Jack.

And Bitty wasn’t sure there was a, ‘I’m sorry the world is full of racism and anti-semitism that you can’t escape,’ pie he could bake for his boyfriend.

Jack took it all in stride, mostly. He was a history professor—he was good at sort of, parsing this stuff out and compartmentalising until he got home where he could either close his eyes until the overwhelming, suffocating wrongness of it all passed, or until he shook apart and cried until he felt better. But he walked in the door, unhooked Lola from her harness without much fanfare, and sort of just…stood there.

Bitty hesitated in the doorway, his feet shuffling, making enough noise Jack didn’t have to try and find him, but he still wasn’t sure what to say. He’d been dealing with the news, and the facebook posts, and twitter, and social media all day and it was a lot for even him. He couldn’t imagine what Jack was feeling now.

“Do you want to sit outside for a little bit?” Jack finally asked, his voice slightly hoarse, as it usually was after a long day of lecture.

Bitty startled at the question, but cleared his throat and said, “Sure, honey. Um. I mean, it’s pretty dark out, and a little cold but…”

“Just grab that blanket from the back of the sofa, eh? It’ll keep us warm.”

Bitty didn’t need to be told twice, and soon enough he and Jack were lounging on the chaise which was a little stiff from shit weather, but dry and comfortable enough. Bitty wasn’t sure when he’d get used to the way the East Coast could be hotter than hell during the day, but have that sort of stiff breeze come August nights. All the same, it made for some good cuddling, and he wasn’t going to complain when Jack tugged him firm and steady against his side.

Bitty let his eyes roam up toward the stars, the sea of black decorated with pinpricks of light. He appreciated they lived far enough away from the city centre that he could actually see the stars, and appreciate them.

He jumped when suddenly a streak of light crossed the sky. “Oh! Shooting star.”

“Meteor, Bittle. If there was an actual star moving across the sky, it would be a much bigger deal.”

“Chirp, chirp,” Bitty muttered, but he was grinning, pushing his face into Jack’s shoulder. He looked back up after a second, then jumped again. “Another one!”

Jack pushed his hand up under Bitty’s shirt, letting his fingers draw along his ribs. “This happens every year, Bittle. You never watched the Perseids?”

“Oh I…” He blinked, vaguely remembering one time his dad taking him out to watch when he was a boy. But Madison was plagued with late summer storms that time of year, so the night sky was often cloudy. “I guess it was never really a thing for me.”

Jack hummed. “My dad tried. With me, I mean. He wanted me to be able to see a wishing star, but my eyes were never good enough for it. He’d tell me about it, but it never made a lot of sense. I think he was more bothered by it than I was. But then again, he also believed in Stanley Cup wishes so…”

Bitty snorted a little. “It’s not that spectacular, you know. It’s just sort of…” He dragged his finger across the inside of Jack’s wrist in a quick slash. “Lasts a second. Just like that.” He did it again, the second time the streak of light rushed across the sky. “Reckon in some places you can probably see a shower of ‘em. Don’t think that’s here.”

Jack hummed, but the way he smiled every time Bitty dragged his finger across his wrist, Bitty kept it up. They sat in silence, Jack feeling the meteor shower on his wrist, Bitty watching, taking comfort in each other.

Bitty wasn’t sure how much time passed before Jack spoke again. “Today was…rough.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered.

Jack let out a bone-deep sigh, twisting his arm away from Bitty’s hand, only to wrap them round Bitty’s waist and bury his face in the top of his boyfriend’s hair. “Sometimes it’s just…so exhausting to have to explain things from history’s perspective. Especially to these kids—and they’re not even kids, really. They’re adults, but too young to be world-weary, and so many of them with so much privilege they’ve never really been touched by the brutality of bigotry. They think it’s a fun game to debate human rights. And I have to…I have to educate, you know? I have to be calm, and be polite, and teach these students why debating my own humanity isn’t a fun game. I can’t let myself feel anything about it until I step out of the classroom and it…” Jack stopped, his voice very rough at the end. He squeezed Bitty a little harder. “I just wanted this. I can’t make the world less terrible, and that’s a shitty feeling, so I just needed you.”

“Oh baby,” Bitty said, soft and careful as he dragged his hands up Jack’s sides. “You’ve got it, okay? Any time you need. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“I know,” Jack said. He breathed deep for a second, nuzzling along Bitty’s hairline with the tip of his nose, laying kisses when he reached bare skin. “I love you.”

Bitty chuckled gently tipping his head up, shifting so his mouth could reach Jack’s. The kiss was sweet, but drawn out and deeper than he’d meant it to be, but Jack reacted almost instantly, his body melting into Bitty’s going pliant and easy. Bitty pulled away with gentle, pecking kisses across Jack’s lips, keeping his forehead pushed against Jack’s.

“I love you too, sweetpea.”

Jack smiled. “I love when you call me that. I’ve said that, right.”

“You have, but I’m not complaining about the reminder.” He closed his eyes when Jack’s hands drifted through his hair, pads of his fingers brushing along the shorn sides, trickling down toward the back of Bitty’s neck.

“I just need some quiet. It’s always there—I’m always so profoundly aware of it, but sometimes I just want…quiet.”

“You got it,” Bitty said. “It’s quiet here. Just us and the stars.”

Jack smiled, and finally relaxed fully into Bitty’s arms. He moved so Bitty could lie back again, gave over his arm to feel each shooting star, and he closed his eyes. “Just us and the stars,” he repeated. “I like that.”

Bitty grinned. “Me too, baby. Me too.”


End file.
